Railway-frog.



J. ALONZ.

RAILWAY FROG.l

APPLrcATloN man oc. al. Isa-xr.

Patented July l30, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

- J. ALONZO.

RAILWAY FROG.

Patented July 30, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 UNitrED STATES' PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN ALONZO, OFDEBORGIA, MONTANA.

RAILWAY-FBO G.

as will enableothersY skilled in the art to'. appertains to" make and euse"v the which vit same:

My invention lisfor' its" principal object to provide aniirn'proved type of frog* for use in connection with railway switches, they de -lr vice being so constructed as to prevent clog- A gingfromsnow,ice'fand-thelike(.

A `furthery object is to so constructV thefiog" as to eliminate 'the usual 'guard' rails which are employed upon the' Vfrog now in use in` order to Aguide'the wheels along the saine.' The space between suchl guard rails and the" linerailsjoften' become clogged with snow and iceV and'cause considerable trouble, all yoi which is 4eliminated by the present invention.

Furthermore, a great Vman feet of rails and"` d, as Well;

other track'material are t Vus save as labor to keep them in repair.` l

A still further'object'of theinvention is to so construct thediverging rail. terminals onv opposite' sides of thelflsu'al-Vrail, as to p're- `vent catching of a personsfoot therein and to also prevent njuryto'the track or frog in casev a derailed car approaching 'the switch should strike the end of either-terminal.

With the foregoing general objects in view, the invention resides in the novel features of' construction and Vunique combinations of parts to be hereinafter fully described and" claimed, the descriptive matter .being supplemented "by the accompanyin'y drawings' which form apart of this speci cation and in which:

Fi re l is a top pla-n view of a railway proved frog;

Fig. 2 is 'an enlarged top plan view of the Fig. 3 isa side elevation with away and in section;

F1 4 is a central lon the p ane of the 'line-4 '4of Fig. 2;v

F1gs.. 5, 6, 7 and v8 are vertical transverse switc lshowing the application -of the im.-

parts broken sections on the planes ,indicated respectively' by the lines 5 5, 6 6, 7 7 and 8 8 of Fig-3;. 'Y

'being connected for simultaneous movement gitudinal section on.

Fig. 9 is a transverse sectionon the plane: indicated lby the line9-9 of Fig. 2;

Fig. l0 is a horizontal section on t of the line 10 l0 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. vllis a perspective view of the two bridging blocks. l

In the drawings abo e plane Specification of Letters Patent. PatentedJ 30, 1918, l l Application filed 0ctober31, 1917. Serial No. 199,532.

ve' briefly fiseritieaf;

the numeral l designates the usual V rail,

one rail Q/of the sidingbeing joined toone arm of said V rail, while one'ofthe rails"V Y e of theminrrMkis joined to the other" ff arm of said V rail. On'opposite sides of the.

rail 1,r and extendingparallel-therewith, are i the diverging terminals 4 and 5 of the two switch railsV 6. The ends ofthe terminals AV4 and 5 are bent outwardly as'indicated at 7 and are beveled downwardly as shownnat 8.

Filler bars 9 are interposed between the .ter-

minals 4 and 5 and the V rail 1v andthe outer ends of at 10.

By thebevels Sand 10,there i" 'l of a persons foot being caught inthe frog.

and thus 'the latter does .not Vhaveto be" .75 these bars are alsobeveled asV shown] plugged up in the usual manner by wooden blocks. Furthermore, in rcase the wheelof f a truck which has jum ved the track, should fr:

come in contact with t e terminals f4 and 5,

the beveled ends there` of will` direct .the wheels upwardly onto the track.Y {This-ils of great advantage, since the entire frogisy not longitudinally displaced as nowcom-Q monly occurs when a wheel strikes one of y d Y i v l'. Y between the closelyspaced enjds,

its terminals.

Positioned of `the `terminals 5 adjacent theY pointed end of theV rail. l, and;adaptedtobridge t he F gaps between said V rail and terminals, are

two vertically movable bridging blocks 1l,

these tongues being preferably shaped as shownmost clearly inv Figs. 6,17 and 11.

The bridging blocksvll reston suitable cams 12 carried by 4rock shaftsl3, thesejshafts by a suitable link 14 which ispivoted to Vcrank arms l5 witlrwliich saidiock shafts are provided. Thev cams are so 'arranged l that when vone bridgingblock 1l isv raised,

the other is Vautomatically lowered, and' order to insure that this lowering shall'take of the bridging blocks 1,1, linksl7 arelprofvided.

Y The rock shattslV are mounted in suitv i able bearings 18 which are bolted or otherwise secured to the opposite sides of a longitudinal sill 19, said bearings having vertical passages 2() which permit water to drain therefrom so that it will not freeze and interfeie with turning of the shafts. The sill 19 is provided with a longitudinal slot 21 which opens through itsy upper and lower sides, and the portions of the sill on opposite sides of the slot are sharpened along their upper edges as indicated at 22, so that the accumulation of water and the formation of ice is prevented. The portions of the sill 19 upon which the cams 12 rest when in raised or operative position, are preferably flat as indicated in my co-pending application, Serial No. 199,533, filed Oct. 31, 1917, and guards 23 such as those described and claimed in said application, are providedto prevent the possible accumulation of ice upon the portions in the sills engaged by said cams when the latter are raised.

A pair of hangers 21 and 25 are provided for supporting the opposite ends of the sill 19,'both of said hangers being formed of two vertical sections 26 whose upper ends are'shaped for engagement with the outer sides of the terminals t and 5, while the lower ends of said sections are provided with registering notches 27 in which the ends of the sill 19 are received. Bolts 28 are passed through the two vsections to hold them tof gether, the lowermost of said bolts passing through the ends of the sill 19, while the upper bolts extend through the terminals el and 5, the upper bolt of the hanger 25 pass ing through the inner ends of the spacer bars 9 and through the pointed end of the V rail 1, while the upper bolt of hanger 21 extends through a spacing block 9l interposed between the closely spaced ends of said terminals.

In most cases, the hanger 25 will be provided with a foot 29 which is spiked or otherwise secured to a suitable sleeper or the like l30, positioned in the bottom of a pit 31 in lwhich the entire operating means of the frog is located, and it will be understood that both hangers could well be provided with such feetY if desired, or that in some cases, no such `feet need be used. Y

Extending between the two hangers 24 and 25 and supported on removable rods 81 are guard plates 32 which coperate with said hangers in forming a housing for the rseveral moving parts of the frog, whereby y the danger from clogging is rendered impossible.

Another feature preferably employed is a base plate 33 to which the V rail 1 and the terminals fl and 5 are rigidly secured, whereby creeping which might otherwise move these parts into improper relation, is prevented. This base plate, however, forms no part of my invention, having been previswitch tongues, whereby when the switch is ftlirowii to one Yposition or the other, the proper tongue 11 will be raised.l All ofthe operating mechanism is preferably housed to prevent clogging by sand, snow'and ice, and

if the improved frog is used in connection with the switch described inthe above mentioned application, little trouble and 'eX- jj pense will be caused in keeping' the lineyjlj I i v I From the foregoing, taken inv connection l open at the several switches.

with the accompanying drawings, it will-bei obvious that the provision of the vertically moving bridging' blOCkS 11 will guide the'j" y V wheels through the frog, the usual guard rails being therefore unnecessary. I wish to Y emphasize the fact that several parts vof the improved frog may be constructed of track material of the types now in common use, and parts of old frogs may be remodeled and used, so that the new frog will be inexpensive and easy to manufacture. I also attach great importance to the fact that the novel construction of the frog prevents clogging thereof from snow, icey or sand. Furthermore, the beveled ends of the terminals 4L and 5 are highly advantageous characteristics as above stated. They also permit the use of shorter spaces than those in the old frogs in which a persons foot might be caught and which are easily clogged.

Since probably the best results are 0b'- tained from the several specific details shown and described,'these details are pref-l erably employed, but I wish' it understood that within the scope of the invention as claimed, numerous minor changes may well be made.

I claim: v l 1. In a. railway frog, the combination of a V rail, diverging rail terminals on oppo-k site sides of said V rail and parallel with the arms thereof, a pair of bridging blocks movable vertically between said terminals at the point of said V rail to bridge the gap between the latter and either terminal, a

pair of hangers depending from said terniinals adjacent the ends of said bridging blocks, a longitudinal sill below said bridging blocks and secured at its ends to said hangers, and cams mounted on said sill for raising and lowering said bridging blocks.

2. In a railway frog, the combination of a V rail, diverging rail terminals on opposite sides of said V rail 'and parallel with t-he arms thereof, a pair of bridging blocks movable vertically between said terminals at the point of said V rail to bridge the gap c between the latter and either terminal, a

pair of hangers depending from said termi-4 nals adjacent the ends of said bridging blocks, each hanger being formed of two vertical sections whose upper ends arel shaped to engage the outer sides of said terminals, the lower ends of said sections having notches in their inner edges, a longitudinal sill whose ends are received in said notches, transverse bolts passing through the upper ends of said seotions and the rail terminals, additional transverse bolts assing through the lower ends of said sectlons and through the ends of said sill, and cams mounted on said sill for raising and lowering said bridging blocks.-

3. A structure as specified in claim 2, together with spacers interposed between said terminals at the endsof said bridging blocks, said first named bolts passing through said spacers.y v

4. A railway frog comprising a V rail, a pair of diverging rail terminals on opposite sides thcreof,-the widely spaced ends of said terminals being curved outwardly and beveled downwardly, and a pair offiller bars between said terminals and said V rail andl having their outer ends beveled downwardly adjacent the bevels of said terminals. In testimony whereof I have hereunto set Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cent: each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

washingtomn. 

